The three smallest ones had an Endocrinology appointment on the very first day of August. Alice was in between Band and the start of school and did not want to spend her day at the doctor, even knowing we were adventuring afterward. Either way, she didn't want to come and that was okay.
Their appointment went well. They've all grown bunches and are looking good! We had to get some bloodwork done and routine xrays, but good news all the way around.
Once we finally finished at the hospital, it was time to adventure! We were almost out of Grand Rapids before I realized that Billy's car doesn't have the state park sticker (my car was in the shop getting a new radiator.) Emily and I discussed it, and decided that it would still be worth it to go on an adventure, and just pay the fee** anyhow. I'm glad we did!
The area surrounding the park is beautiful, and I feel like we kind of snuck in the back way.
These pictures are totally my favorite! Let it be noted that not all the signs are in the same condition. Some parks must get more funding than others...
First task was to scout out the park, to see where we wanted to sit and so forth. My children thought the bike rack made a lovely playground.
But, after our scouting expedition, they had a chance to play on a real playground!
These trees were all along the lake and they look so pretty! In the background you can see the dunes. We didn't drive around the lake to visit lake Michigan (or the dunes) because I don't have an ORV sticker and didn't know how close we would actually get to the dunes. Also, we left the hospital a few hours later than anticipated, and I knew we'd already be driving home in the dark.
Once they were tired of the playground, it was time to change and bring out 'camp' over to the beach. Sadly, it was sprinkling just enough that I set up under the shelter, so that our things were not wet when we got back into the car.
The water was very shallow in the entirety of the swim zone, so they didn't get to swim much, but still enjoyed playing in the water.
William was the first out, I think he was cold. He got dressed and found some other boys to play with on the playground. Next out was Emily. She was a little cold, but mostly bored, so I let her read on my kindle (since I wasn't using it, only listening to my audio book, while keeping a vigilant watch on my children in the water.)
The twins had so much fun that Emily had to go back in to get them, because they weren't watching for my 'time to get out' wave.
Once everyone was out, they changed into dry clothes, and we reloaded the car. I wanted to see what else was in this little town, and it turns out, a lot! It's what convinced me that we came in the back way, most of the fun was the other direction!
All the same, we had driven by an ice cream shop on the way in, so we left the same way. Avia had given us money (yes, again) for more ice cream, so we took some pictures to say thank you!
Don't worry, Alice didn't miss out, we saved her portion so that she could take herself down to the shop her in town at her leisure.
After ice cream, the kids got to spend time on yet another playground!
We stopped over at the photo op sign, and my children opted to be weird, again. lol.
When we made it back to the highway, someone liked the trees or clouds, or something, because I have like 6 versions of this picture. It is quite pretty.
About 20 minutes from home, the sky opened up and we were slowed to a crawl on the interstate due to a line of rain. It only lasted about 5 minutes for us. It was already proper dark by this time, and after such a long day, it was very unwelcomed. But we made it home, where it was dry, as we unloaded the car after our day of adventures!
later days
If you want to see all the ones we've visited so far, here are the links to the posts:
Tahquamenon Falls #15
Keith J Charters #33
*this post marks the start of the project, and as such, has information about what I hope to accomplish!
**one of my favorite things about this project is that I only have to pay a yearly fee to get into each of the parks!
edit 9-10-24: backdated for continuity.
